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February 2013

On February 25th, 2012, Altera and Intel announced an agreement to build next-generation, high performance FPGAs on Intel’s 14nm Tri-Gate technology. This is significant because Altera has used TSMC as their sole foundry for years. Altera has never before been swayed by price or lured away by the promise of technology. But, as the saying goes, “never say never”. As of today Altera has two foundry relationships.

This announcement comes less than a week after Achronix announced the successful rollout of their Speedster 22i which is being built using Intel’s 22nm Tri-Gate technology. Achronix used TSMC for their 65nm and 40nm product development. It was somewhat of a risk, but Achronix left the TSMC technology track at 40nm, skipped 32/28nm and went straight to Intel for their 22nm Tri-Gate technology. Was Altera watching in envy?

During TSMC’s Q4 2012 financial conference call, Morris Chang, TSMC’s CEO, was asked at what technology node and for which end markets does TSMC view Intel as becoming a more fierce competitor? Morris Chang is not new to this business. He stated that he already viewed Intel as a fierce competitor.

Hello, my name is Adrienne, and my son is a video game addict. He’s only 8, but he loves games for iOS devices, the Wii, Xbox 360, and online Flash games. But the game that has inspired the most “gotta-have-it” mania, and the most dollars leaving our pockets, has been Skylanders. If you’re the parent of an 8-10 year old boy, you probably just groaned in sympathy as you read that last sentence. If not, then here’s the short version of what has become Activision’s latest $1 billion game.

Skylanders is a video game that is playable on all the different platforms (with the appropriate software), but it’s the real-world collectible component that has really taken off. Skylanders is played with a platform onto which a player can put their character, and that figure comes to life onscreen. The platform has a wired or wireless connection to the game console, and the figure has an NFC connection to the platform. Each figure remembers any points or achievements it earns, so that it can be taken to a friend’s house and played there.

Phoenix, AZ - February 13th, 2013 -- Sensor fusion has become an important feature for many portable devices, in particular smartphones, tablets and the emerging Ultraportable PCs. In fact, sensor fusion is required by Windows 8 for all tablet PCs and all convertible Ultrabooks, and recommended for clamshell Ultrabooks. Intel offers reference platforms for tablets and Ultrabooks that include a sensor hub block connected directly to the CPU. Many advanced applications are enabled by sensor fusion, including geo-fencing, gesture controls and context awareness.

Semico Research recently published a detailed forecast and analysis of the analog market. The analog market totaled $40 billion revenue in 2012 and is expected to experience a 9.5% dollar and a 6.4% unit growth for 2013. Growth in is two main areas. As the popularity of mobile electronic devices continues, analog power management chips continue to advance, improve performance and find new applications. Secondly, the world is still analog.